Refrigerator arrangement



. Feb. 19, 1935. c B, CQNLEY 1,991,661

REFRIGERATOR ARRANGEMENT Filed July 17, 1954 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 l D" .1 m.1 .QL

E 26 o O o Inventor C, W. 6. da/r/ej By flawaorizm Feb. 19, 1935.

Filed July 17, 1934 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 By 2mm fl Home y ImgcnlorFeb.19,1935. 1 QH'BCONLEY 1,991,661

REFRIGERATOR ARRANGEMENT Filed July 17, 1954. 4 Sheets-Sheet 5 /0 I IInvcnlor Ci/f 29, 600(2),

Feb. 19, 1935. c, H B, ONLEY 1,991,661

REFRIGERATOR ARRANGEMENT Filed Jl lly 1'7, 1934 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 y \Af/JInventor 4 Home y Patented Feb. 19, 1935 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICEREFRIGERATOR ARRANGEMENT Carl B. B. Conley, Methuen, Mass.

Application July 17, 1934, Serial No. 735,701 2 Claims. (01. 62-34) Thisinvention relates to a refrigerator arrangement, the general object ofthe invention being to provide a refrigerator having a shelf arrangementtherein which is vertically movable through an opening in the top of therefrigerator with manually operated means for raising the the appendedclaims.

In describing the invention in detail, reference will be had to theaccompanying drawings wherein like characters denote like orcorresponding parts throughout the several views, and in which:--

Figure 1 is a front view of the invention.

Figure 2 is a top plan view thereof.

Figure 3 is a top plan view with the cover parts removed.

Figure 4 is a vertical sectional view.

Figure 5 is a view of the shelf structure'and the piston rods.

Figure 6 is a fragmentary elevation with parts in section showing one ofthe plunger assemblies.

Figure 7 is a sectional view of one of the plunger assemblies.

Figure 8 is an elevation with parts in section and a double cylinder andpiston arrangement.

Figure 9 is a diagrammatic view with parts in section of the pressuresystem.

In these drawings, the refrigerator is shown at A and a table at B, thistable being connected to a side of the refrigerator and if desired aradio C may be supported by the table as shown in Figure 1. A projection1 is connected to the outer side of the table for supporting a meatchopper or the like and electric connections 2 are carried by the tablefor connecting various appliances on the table with a source of current.

A partition 3 divides the upper part of the refrigerator into front andrear compartments and a shelf structure 4 is located in the frontcompartment and includes a number of shelves connected to the posts 5which have their upper ends connected to the cover part 6 which fits inan opening in the top of the refrigerator. Long piston rods '7 dependfrom the cover part 6 and extend into the long cylinders 8 which havetheir base parts 9 supported on the bottom of the refrigerator, thelower ends of the pistons having rings 10 therein as shown in Figure 5.A pair of cylinders 11 is located in the rear portion of therefrigerator and contain the pistons 12 and rods 13 pass into thereduced parts 11' of the cylinders with the rods connected to a crosspiece 14 which has its central portion connected to the rear end of alever 15 pivoted intermediate its ends to a bracket 16 with the leverpassing through a slot 17 in the front of the refrigerator and havingits front end bent upwardly and provided with a pedal 18. Springs 13'are located in the parts 11' for transmitting the movement of the rodsto the pistons. Thus, by depressing the lever, the pistons are movedupwardly in the cylinders. A reservoir 19 is connected with thecylinders by a pipe 20 and a pipe 21 connects the tops of the cylinderswith branch pipes 22 which lead to the base parts 9 of the cylinders 8,each pipe 22 havinga check valve 23 therein. Pipes 24 connect the baseparts 9 with a manually operated valve 25 the handle 26 of which passesthrough a hole in the center of the refrigerator and a pipe 2'7 connectsthe valve with the pipe 21 and contains a check valve 28.

These parts are so arranged that when the pedal 18 is depressed thepistons 12 are moved upwardly in the cylinders 11 so as to force thefluid therein through the pipes 21 and 22 into the cylinders 8 thusraise the pistons 7 so as to elevate the shelf structure above the topof the refrigerator. Thus articles can be placed on the shelves orremoved therefrom and as it will be seen the check valves will hold thefluid in the parts and the shelf structure will be retained in raisedposition. If the shelf structure is to be lowered the operator turns thehandle 26 of the valve 25 which permits the fluid to escape from thecylinders 8 through the pipe 27 into the pipe 21 so that the fluidreturns to the cylinders 11 and thus the weight of the shelf structurewill lower the same. If desired, latch means 15' may be provided forholding the pedal depressed.

This invention eliminates the necessity of one having to open the doorsin the refrigerator which permits warm air to enter the same and thusthe device reduces the operative cost of the refrigerator.

The rear compartment contains shelves for supporting bottles and thelike and I also provide a basket 29 in this compartment. The compressor,motor and condenser unit is shown generally at 30' and the pipes leadingto the coils are shown at 31'.

Doors 30 are provided for the front and lower part of the refrigeratorto provide access to the refrigerator and access is had to the rearcompartment through the removable cover 31, the

one-sixteenth of an inch or less. Thus, when the pipe system is full ofoil, the least pressure on the foot pedal will start upward movement ofthe shelf structure.

I also prefer to make the lower end of the piston 7 concave, as shown indotted lines in Fig. 7, so as to give a greater area for the oil to pushagainst.

In order to prevent loss of cold air when the shelf structure israised,'I provide a horizontal partition 3' which extends under thecompartment for the shelf structure and provides an opening 33 whichconnects the lower part of the shelf compartment with the coil or coldair compartment, and I also provide an opening 34 in the partition 3 forconnecting the top part of the shelf compartment with the upper part ofthe cold air compartment so that a circulation 'is provided between thetwo compartments. A valve plate 35 normally closes the openings 34 bymeans of the springs 36 so that the upper opening 34 is closed when theshelf structure is raised but when the shelf structure is lowered, thecover member 6 thereof engages the arms 37 connected with the plate andthus moves the plate downwardly to open the opening 34. As many of theseopenings 33 and 34 can be provided as an necessary. What is claimed is:

cover member for closing the opening, a shelf structure depending fromthe cover member, pistons depending from the cover member, cylinderslocated in the refrigerator andreceiving the pistons, a cylindercontaining fluid, a piston therein, a pedal device extending through thefront of the refrigerator for raising the piston last mentioned,

conduits connecting the last mentioned cylinder with the lower ends ofthe first-mentioned cylinders, a reservoir connected to the fluidcylinder, check valves in the conduits for retaining the fluid in thefirst-mentioned cylinders, a manually op-- erated valve, and conduitsconnecting the same to the lower ends of the first-mentioned cylindersand with the second-mentioned cylinder.

2. A refrigerator having an opening at its top,

a cover member for closing the opening, a shelf structure depending fromthe cover member, a piston depending from the cover member, a cylinderlocated in the" refrigerator and receiving the piston, a cylindercontaining fluid, a conduit connecting the last mentioned cylinder withthe lower end of the first mentioned cylinder, manually operated meansfor placing the fluid in the second cylinder under pressure to cause thefluid to enter the first cylinder to raise the piston.

K CARL. H. B. CONLEY.

1. A refrigerator having an opening at its top, a

